Emily Rose

Warning: this one may be long!

Easy and I had date night on Saturday and we went to see the Exorcism of Emily Rose. For those of you who know me well at this stage of my life, you know this is a bit out of character for me. Once a spooky movie fanatic, I have become a strong opponent of horror movies. Something about Emily Rose kept tugging at me though.

I'm currently going to a Bible study on spiritual warfare. It' also really just been in the last few years that I realized how very active Satan is in our daily lives. Maybe that's why this movie appealed to me. I eventually just prayed about it and then decided it was going to be ok to see.

As we settled into the theatre seats I said a prayer that God allow me to see Him in this film and to not feel the evil that was surely to be dealt with. You see my friends, that's why I refuse to watch horror movies anymore. I can FEEL the evil behind them. It's like I just spent money to invite Satan and his demons into my house, worse yet, into my mind. So I prayed and braced myself still unsure if I had made the right decision.

God is good. I think this movie was well done. Whether you beleive in demonic possession or not really doesn't matter. I felt like in the end this movie did a good job of making people think. I don't want to give any key pieces away for those of you who have not yet seen the film, but it causes everyone to stop and really think about what they believe and where they put their faith. I left feeling not unnerved, but glad that God is on my side and reminded that my battles are not with flesh & blood. Make no mistake, spiritual warfare rages around us at all times. We are served well to remember that.

Unfortunately, this movie only received a PG-13 rating. There is no nudity, no language, and no real violence between people. It is, however, a film about a subject matter that is way to serious for children. So, here's my main concern....PG-13 ratings do not actually restrict anyone from seeing a film. There was an 11 year old girl in line right in front of us to buy tickets. Not a parent in sight anywhere. She asked for a ticket to Emily Rose, the cashier asked her age...11..and then sold the ticket. Concerned about it, I asked the cashier why she did that. The answer is simple....the PG in PG-13 makes it the parent's job, not the theater's to restrict who sees the film. Makes sense. Bad parents. I won't even address the fact that this child was there unsupervised. It left me wondering if her parents had seen the film. Did they watch it and then think, "yeah, my 11 year old daughter needs to watch this?" I doubt it.

So I guess my complaint is with the rating. This film should have been rated R for the simple fact that children have no business seeing it! Easy and I walked away and had an in depth conversation about Satan and God and how spiritual warfare effects our daily walks. Children, however, walk away from this film with a series of disturbing images burned into their brains. I'm sure there are some who are mature and were able to see the message of hope and perserverence visible in this film. Most, I fear, simply saw some frightening things that either served to make them beleive that evil is a joke, or that will be a tool for Satan later in their lives. When those kids close their eyes to sleep at night, Satan will not think twice about replaying those images for them.

So, who wins this battle? I think Satan won a big one with the films rating. I take comfort in knowing that God has already won the war. When Christ rose, death was defeated. Satan can not win the war. Let's all make an effort to be aware of his activity in our lives so he doesn't win many battles either.